AC/DC Switched On

As fan of AC/DC I thought it was about time I put down some of my memories and reasons why AC/DC are simply one of the best loved Rock bands in the world.

In this blog I will share glimpses of my little AC/DC collection and how I got to be in two of the videos and why they are the band I have sacraficed vacations, work, school and met some of the most devoted fans in the world.

The First Time I saw AC/DC live

I had been a fan of AC/DC since 1978, when I heard 'If you want blood' and 'Highway to Hell'. But my first AC/DC gig was at Hammersmith Odeon. It was the same year we lost Bon, the band had released Back in Black and I wanted to see if this new guy from Dunston had the lungs to sing the songs the AC/DC fans loved and knew so well.

So on a chilled November 10th, 1980, I stood at the center of the front row with my brother and my god what a excellent gig, Angus was within touching and sweat spraying distance as he constantly moved around the stage and Brian, this ex-Gordie lead singer could do the job and did it well.

I'm lucky and proud to of met Brian a few times since, as we are both now Floridians with Brian in Sarasota and me 20 minutes outside of Orlando, and both are mad about Motorsport and cars.

Since my first gig in 1980, I have seen the band over 30 times, and so yes they are my favorite band of all time and always will be.

Here is my list of the AC/DC gigs I have seen:

November 10th 1980 Hammersmith Odeon

November 12th 1980 Hammersmith Odeon

November 13th 1980 London Apollo

November 15th 1980 London Apollo

October 18th 1981 Wembley Arena

October 19th 1981 Wembley Arena

October 13th 1982 Hammersmith Odeon

October 14th 1982 Hammersmith Odeon

October 15th 1982 Hammersmith Odeon

October 18th 1982 Wembley Arena

October 19th 1982 Wembley Arena

January 16th 1986 Wembley Arena

Feburary 26th 1986 Brixton Academy

Feburary 27th 1986 Brixton Academy

March 11th 1988 Wembley Arena

March 12th 1988 Wembley Arena

March 13th 1988 Wembley Arena

August 16th 1990 Brixton Academy

August 17th 1990 Brixton Academy

April 15th 1991 Wembley Arena

April 16th 1991 Wembley Arena

April 17th 1991 Wembley Arena

April 23rd 1991 Birmingham NEC

June 21st 1996 Wembley Arena

June 22nd 1996 Wembley Arena

December 4th 2000 Wembley Arena

December 5th 2000 Wembley Arena

Then I moved to Florida

December 21st 2008 St Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL

November 19th 2009 AmWay Arena, Orlando, FL

My AC/DC Video Stardom (well video extra)

The videos I have been in are That's The Way I Wanna Rock N' Roll and Are You Ready. People ask me how do you get to be in a Rock video and most of the time it is luck, listening to local radio stations asking for fans, internet sites or just being in the right place at the right time.

For That's They Way I Wanna Rock N' Roll I was standing in line at Wembley Arena waiting to see AC/DC that night when a guy handed out flyers to ask for people who wanted to be in a AC/DC video to be back the following day. So I was there with another 200 odd people and we were all given cardboard cut out guitars, which I later got sign by the band, and asked to just raise the guitars up and down and generally rock out with the band. We later met the band and some people got to be in close up studio work later filmed in the docklands.

For the Are You Ready video, BBC Radio 1's Rock Show advertised that if you could make it to a London railway station (I forget which one) they would provide a coach to take us to a film shoot for AC/DC. On the coach we were all provided prison uniforms and driven to Bray Film Studios in Windsor. At the studio some people were asked if they wanted AC/DC shaved into their heads, as I skipped work to be there I did not think this was a good idea, and we were led into the film set. The day long shot was hot, long but very fun. I remember someone stole Brian's microphone and he never got it back. During the shot we met the band, had our prison hats signed and had a great time.